*hlaibaz

Runic: ᚺᛚᚨᛁᛒᚨᛉ Pronunciation: /ˈxlɑi̯.βɑz/

noun · masculine · a-stem

Meanings

  1. bread
  2. loaf

Etymology

Of unclear origin. The word could have been borrowed from an unknown language or constructed from native material in late Proto-Germanic. It has been connected by Walde 1910 to the Ancient Greek words κλίβανος (klíbanos) (klíbanos), κρίβανος (kríbanos, ‘baker's oven; pan with a lid for baking bread’) and κλιβανίτης (klibanítēs, ‘bread baked in a κλίβανος’), which according to Beekes is probably a borrowing from an unknown substrate language. The Germanic word could well have been borrowed from the same source. If so, it would be an early borrowing, since the word then apparently displays the effects of Grimm's Law.

Compare Latvian klàips (‘loaf’), Lithuanian kliẽpas (‘loaf’). Proto-Indo-European *kʷel- is suggested as their origin, owing to the fact that the earliest flatbreads were disk-shaped. The Proto-Germanic word could have been borrowed from Balto-Slavic or vice versa.

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nom.hlaibazhlaibōz, hlaibōs
Acc.hlaibąhlaibanz
Gen.hlaibas, hlaibishlaibǫ̂
Dat.hlaibaihlaibamaz
Inst.hlaibōhlaibamiz
Voc.hlaibhlaibōz, hlaibōs

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Descendants

  • *hlaib (Proto-West Germanic)
    • hlāf (Old English)
      • lof, lofe, loff, loof, looffe, love, hlaf, laf (Middle English)
        • laif (Scots)
  • *hlaib (Proto-West Germanic)
    • hlāf (Old English)
      • lof, lofe, loff, loof, looffe, love, hlaf, laf (Middle English)
        • loaf (English)
          • লোফ (lōph) (Bengali)
          • ļoob (Marshallese)
          • loff (Norwegian Bokmål)
          • loff (Norwegian Nynorsk)
          • lofa (Scottish Gaelic)
  • *hlaib (Proto-West Germanic)
    • hlēf (Old Frisian)
      • liaf (North Frisian)
      • luffe (Saterland Frisian)
  • *hlaib (Proto-West Germanic)
    • hleib, leib, leip, hlaiba, laiba (Old High German)
      • leip (Middle High German)
        • Loab (Bavarian)
        • Laif (Central Franconian)
        • Laib (German)
        • Lääb, Laab (Rhine Franconian)
  • *hlaib (Proto-West Germanic)
    • *hlēf, *hlēfa (Old Saxon)
      • klepe (Middle Low German)
  • hleifr (Old Norse)
    • leivur (Faroese)
    • hleifur (Icelandic)
    • leiv (Norwegian)
  • hleifr (Old Norse)
    • lev (Old Danish)
      • lev (Danish)
  • hleifr (Old Norse)
    • lēver (Old Swedish)
      • lev (Swedish)
  • 𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐍆𐍃 (hlaifs) (Gothic)
    • *xlěbъ (Proto-Slavic)
  • 𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌱𐍃 (hlaibs) (Gothic)
    • *xlěbъ (Proto-Slavic)
  • *lājpē (Proto-Samic)
  • *laipa (Proto-Finnic)

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